“Too Grown Too Young”

Used to look out the window like freedom lived outside.

I was only 9, but my thoughts was 35.

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I had pain in my backpack, rage in my shoes

Wasn’t taught how to cope, I just learned how to move

Had a grown man stare at the age of ten

‘Cause life ain’t wait, it just rushed me in

Didn’t play with toys, I played with the truth

Watched my homies sell hope from a project roof

Mama workin’ doubles, Daddy was a ghost

So I put on strength like a second coat

Cried quiet, had to sleep with pride

Nobody heard me, but I still survived

I was makin' choices with no real guide

Lookin' grown on the outside, but broke inside

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Too grown, too young

Had to fight just to feel like I won

Learned to lie with a smile on my tongue

Told 'em “I'm good” when I barely held on

They don't know what the silence do

They just see tattoos, not the inner wounds

I ain't have time to bloom

I just had to move — and move through the fumes

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Used to count coins for corner store meals

Now I count time like scars that healed

Middle school days with my stomach on E

Still gave lunch away — that’s the love in me

I seen my innocence boxed and stored

Had to hustle peace while my youth got ignored

Played tough so my tears don’t speak

But I bled in bars and I vent in beats

I ain’t ask to grow up this fast

But I made a future outta my past

Took all the pain, stitched it in lines

So my kids won’t carry what was never mine

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Too grown, too young

Had to fight just to feel like I won

Learned to lie with a smile on my tongue

Told 'em “I'm good” when I barely held on

They don't know what the silence do

They just see tattoos, not the inner wounds

I ain't have time to bloom

I just had to move — and move through the fumes

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If I act older than I am, it’s 'cause I had to.

If I love harder than I should, it’s 'cause I never had room to feel safe.